Description
Handmade musical glass icicle decorations for your home
These medium icicles are hollow flameworked borosilicate glass. These are exactly like the medium icicles in my installation Ausklingen (Fade Away), and their hanging mechanisms are identical: they are strung with plastic coated steel hanging from a fishing swivel. Each is unique and is handmade by me in my studio in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Many of these icicles have been used in my films, performances, and sound installations, including Ausklingen (Fade Away) in the Veste Coburg, the castle in Germany Prince Albert (as in Victoria and Albert) is from.
Variations
Each one is one of a kind and comes with the following label:
WHEN F.W. WOOLWORTH FIRST BROUGHT CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE MID-EIGHTEEN HUNDRED’S, HE GOT THEM IN LAUSCHA, GERMANY, A SMALL TOWN IN WHAT IS NOW EX-DDR THURINGIA. WHEN I FIRST STARTED FLAMEWORKING, THE FIRST THING I DID WAS GO TO LAUSCHA TO STUDY. I WAS QUITE FORTUNATE TO STUDY WITH AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF MASTER GLASSBLOWERS NOW NO LONGER WITH US. THIS ICICLE ORNAMENT IS BASED ON AN OLD LAUSCHA ORNAMENT AND REFERENCES NOT ONLY THE BIRTHPLACE OF ORNAMENTS, BUT ALSO THE HOME OF FLAMEWORKING. EACH ICICLE IS ONE OF A KIND AND MADE FROM BOROSILICATE GLASS IN SCOTLAND BY CARRIE FERTIG.
Made from
I use only borosilicate glass, which is made for science to withstand shock, stress, pressure, extremes of temperature, gas, acid, and 1st year chemistry students.
After forming them in the fire, each icicle is then annealed, that is put in a kiln, brought up to temperature, held at that temperature, and brought down to room temperature. This eliminates the stress from the glass. The icicles are then capable of being used as a musical instrument. My icicles are not unbreakable, but they are shockingly tough. Not your grandmother's icicles at all, but definitely inspired by them.
Dimensions
These medium icicle decorations are all 24mm (15/16") in diameter. Then then vary and are priced according to length (the length shown is the length of the icicle itself, the hanging length is longer):
13-15cm (5-6") £50
15-20cm (6-8") £70
20-25cm (8-10") £80
25-30.5cm (10-12") £90
30.5-35.5cm (12-14") £100
Product code
1103261